Chaos chaos or Pelomyxa

The
Pelomyxa or Chaos chaosis a very large protozoan and belongs to the Phyllum
Sarcodina.

It
has an ever changing shape and is approximately 1000-5000 um long. This
is 1-5 mm! It can easily be seen with the naked eye. Shown in
the picture at the left is a Paramecium for size reference.

The
Chaos chaos can be ordered from science supply companies but it is
a fragile protozoan and does not survive well in the
classroom.

They
can sense light and move away from it. It
reproduces by plasmotomy, forming two to six daughter cells. Chaos
chaos feed on Paramecium.

At
lower left we see a Chaos Chaos enveloping a Paramecium. Many of the
dark spots inside the protoplasm are food vacuoles. They hold
undigested food, usually composed of ciliates. Look closely at the lower right of this
picture you can see another Paramecium, totally enclosed.